Evening Meditation for Sleep

What an evening practice is for

An evening meditation is a way of marking the end of the day. It gives the mind a few minutes to stop planning and reviewing before you lie down. It cannot make you sleep, and trying to force sleep usually pushes it further away. Think of the aim as rest. If sleep follows, good. If it does not, you have still spent ten quiet minutes with a slower breath and a softer body, which is worth having for its own sake.

Setting up the hour before bed

• Dim the lights and put the phone out of reach, with any alarm already set.
• Finish practical jobs first, so you are not holding a list in your head.
• If tomorrow is on your mind, write down the three things you need to remember and close the notebook.
• Keep the room cool and have a blanket nearby, because the body cools as it settles.
• Decide in advance whether you will sit on the edge of the bed or lie down, so there is nothing to choose once you begin.

Letting the day go

A short review can help the mind stop circling. Run through the day once, from waking to now, as if you were watching it from a distance. Do not judge it or fix it. When you reach the present moment, say to yourself that the day is finished. Then turn to the body. Let the jaw loosen, let the tongue rest, let the shoulders drop away from the ears. Allow the out-breath to be a little longer than the in-breath, without counting if counting keeps you alert.

When the mind will not settle

• Racing thoughts: give each one a single word, such as ‘work’ or ‘money’, and return to the feeling of the mattress under you.
• Clock-watching: turn the clock away. Knowing the time rarely helps.
• Restless legs or fidgeting: stretch slowly, then lie still for ten breaths before deciding whether you need to move again.
• Wide awake after about twenty minutes: get up, sit somewhere dim and quiet, and come back to bed when you feel drowsy.
• Waking in the night: repeat the last part of the practice, with a long out-breath and heavy limbs, in place of reaching for a screen.

Making it a habit, and when to seek help

Practise at roughly the same time each night for two weeks before you judge it. Five to ten minutes is enough. Some nights will feel deep and others scattered, and both are normal. A fixed order helps: wash, lights down, notebook, practice, sleep. If poor sleep lasts for more than a few weeks, or you are very tired in the daytime, speak to a doctor. Long-term insomnia, loud snoring with pauses in breathing, and low mood all deserve proper assessment, and a bedtime meditation is not a substitute for that.